Influence of Reciprocal links in Social Networks

TL;DR

This paper empirically investigates how reciprocal links in social networks influence information spread and network robustness, revealing their significant role in enhancing connectivity and efficiency.

Contribution

It provides the first empirical analysis of reciprocal links' impact on social network structure and function, highlighting their importance in information dissemination and network stability.

Findings

Reciprocal links significantly enhance information spreading.

Reciprocal links are crucial for network connectivity.

Reciprocal links improve network robustness and efficiency.

Abstract

In this Letter, we empirically study the influence of reciprocal links, in order to understand its role in affecting the structure and function of directed social networks. Experimental results on two representative datesets, Sina Weibo and Douban, demonstrate that the reciprocal links indeed play a more important role than non-reciprocal ones in both spreading information and maintaining the network robustness. In particular, the information spreading process can be significantly enhanced by considering the reciprocal effect. In addition, reciprocal links are largely responsible for the connectivity and efficiency of directed networks. This work may shed some light on the in-depth understanding and application of the reciprocal effect in directed online social networks.